The English Miscellany

This was my Hall of Residence at University in Scotland Personal Statements for entry to British Universities Scrap any items that are trivial, too personal, or really not relevant to your university course. Link facts about your experience to the values and skills learned Language should be clear and precise. Avoid rhetorical flourishes and stilted language Check reports, comments and reviews of your work for tangible positive statements. Always ask other professionals to read your draft statement. Thinking critically and creatively about the feedback offered. Don’t let yourself down with grammatical mistakes, awkward style and spelling mistakes. These send alarm bells ringing and indicate that you lack a professional approach. Humour is always a risk and generally to be avoided, unless you are applying for a degree in  Comedy. Remember that any claims that you make will be tested at your i

The Rep Theatre and the Library of Birmingham This blog briefly shares parts of a recent exercise with students. The first aim was to undertake reading and writing exercises in order to gain a better understanding of techniques of persuasion . The second aim was to turn the exercise upside down by writing a highly critical review , or a letter of complaint . We also deployed speaking exercises in the form of  radio-style interviews, a phone-in, and social media interactive engagement such as short text and tweet responses. The underlying aims were vocabulary building and confident use of language. Our first task was to study the vocabulary used in advertisements and marketing/advertising material. These were drawn from a Children's Guide to Leisure Activities in the Black Country (West Midlands, UK);  Rewriting the Book - Discovery Season - Library of Birmingham; and What's On at the beacon Arts centre, Greenock, Scotland. Initially students were asked to s

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Don Quixote The empiricist philosopher, John Locke (1632 – 1704), is best know for his Essay concerning Human Understanding (1690) and Two Treatises of Government (1689). Also important are his Letters concerning Toleration (1689, 1690, 1692) and Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693). But it was just today that I came across a reprint of his manuscript Some thoughts concerning reading and study for a gentleman (1703) which Dr Johnson's quotes from in his dictionary definition of rhetorick. I was particularly interested to reflect on Locke's notion of connectness in education. Since the text is interesting in its own right I have copied the extracts that follow from it. The first is from the opening; the second praises Cervantes' novel Don Quixote (1605) Locke concluded his thoughts by recommending the use of dictionaries and encyclopaedias. [p. 405] Reading is for the improvement of the understanding. The improvement of the unders

Strictures on The School for Scandal (1777) from The London Magazine (April 1783), pp. 169-172. A Play composed by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Charles , to whom the affections of the audience are chiefly conciliated, is a young profligate spark of fashion, without œconomy, temperance, or consideration; who having spent his all, minds nothing but how to get more, without the vulgar means of industry; who cares not how much he squanders of what is not his own, provided he can be a rogue in an honest way, or possess another's property without risquing his neck; in short, he is one of thole modern fine gentlemen, who devote their whole substance, time, and talents, alternately, to wine, gambling, and gallantry. Surely a character of this kind, endowed with so many agreeable qualities as meet in him, is the very worst spectacle our youth can behold. From such polluted and enchanting scenes the increasing profligacy of the nation mull originate. What can be a grosser pros

Connected Brain Zones § 371. IV. The use of connectives . The words of connection and transition between clauses, members, and sentences, may be made, according to the skill or the awkwardness of the writer, sources of strength or of weakness. It is always a source of weakness for two prepositions, having different antecedents, to be co-ordinated in connection with a common subsequent . This mode of expression has been called "the splitting of particles;" a name not very applicable to it as it occurs in English construction. The proper name for it is the one implied in the italicized words above. The following is an example. "Though personally unknown to, I have always been an admirer of, Mr. Calhoun." The way to correct it is to complete the first clause, and let the last, if either, be elliptic; thus: "Though personally unknown to Mr. Calhoun, I have always admired him," or "been an admirer of him." It is pro

Order of Sentences in a Paragraph Classic Advice on the construction of a paragraph ... § 365. III. The arrangement of sentences in a paragraph .*  In every extended paragraph the bearing of every sentence upon what precedes should be explicit and unmistakable. This is principally effected by the use of conjunctions and contextual phrases, the rules for which will be given in the next division of the chapter. § 366. When several consecutive sentences develop or illustrate the same idea, they should, as far as possible, be formed alike. This is called the rule of Parallel Construction. § 367. The opening sentence of a paragraph, unless obviously preparatory, should indicate with some prominence the topic of the paragraph. § 368. In the course of the paragraph there should occur no dislocations , that is, sudden turns of thought, such as would create confusion. But the entire paragraph should possess unity, having a definite purpose, and avoiding all dig